The Four Houses - Slytherin

It's time to shine the light on everyone's least favorite house!

Week 4 Roundup

We are reaching the end of the first month of our challenge! Only 3 more days to go (today included) and then it's time to move on to Book 2 of the Harry Potter series - Chamber of Secrets.

But before we do that, let's see what week 4 of the challenge was like.

The Four Houses - Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw

Let's continue with our exploration of the workings of Hogwarts, this time focusing on the two under-represented (in this book at least) houses - Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw.

The Four Houses - Gryffindor

So, I think I'm going to have to bite the bullet and concede that I will not manage to review Philosopher's Stone chapter-by-chapter by the end of the month. I will try, instead, to focus on over-arching themes for the remainder of the book, so there will be some skipping around between chapters.

On that note, let's have a look at the very best school of witchcraft there is.

Milestone

I, personally, have still not fully figured out what I would like to achieve with this blog. I think Corrie and I have agreed that once we finish re-reading the Harry Potter series we would like to continue on our quest of reading books together and using this blog as a means of keeping track of our progress but also of reviewing the books as we go along.

Neither of us has a background in literature, our education is quite firmly scientific in nature and so our reviews will most probably not be as in-depth in analysis as those by professional book critics. I hope this doesn't put people off and that our audience will keep growing. We are simply two girls who share a love for reading and getting lost in stories.

But a blog is nothing more than a diary, unless someone else reads it and interacts with it. We would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has browsed through our posts (our analytics pages tell us that we have had more than 1000 page views since the blog went live!) and encourage you to keep coming back if you like what you've read so far.

I'm not sure if we've mentioned this anywhere before, but if you would like to have an input into what book(s) we should tackle after Harry Potter, then please vote in the poll that is located on the right-hand side of this page. So far the His Dark Materials series is winning.

So, again, thank you for stopping by!

~ Corrie and Lucia

Source

Pets at Hogwarts

I want to discuss the Hogwartian pets. When I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, I was going to a boarding school. Although my brother and I were very good with animals, and given orphaned birds, bush babies, snakes, squirrels, kittens and all manner of other things to look after, these were invariably taken home and not allowed back to school.

Week 3 Roundup

I can't believe 3 weeks have passed already since Corrie and I took up this challenge! Time certainly does fly. So what's been happening these past 7 days?

The Journey from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters

Oh, it looks like Corrie caught up to me in the book! Her previous post was also about chapter 6, so I will try to keep this one short. I'm still aiming to finish reviewing this book chapter-by-chapter by the end of the month, so need to get cracking!

Weasleys, Diagon Alley and Knitting

Harry has just met Ron on the train, and they're on their way to Hogwarts.

I can't believe how long it takes me to read a physical book. I would never, ever have thought that this would be a problem for me if you had told me I would struggled with finding the time to sit down with a novel for half an hour until three or four years ago. I suddenly understand why my parents didn't read more when we were kids.

Religion and Canon, Part 2

This post carries on directly from my previous post about what constitutes Harry Potter Canon. I tried to explain there why I was discussing the subject in the first place and I hope my reasoning was clear, but if it wasn't, then I hope this post will do better!

Religion and Canon, Part 1

I mentioned in a previous post that there was a topic I would like to cover, namely religion. This can be a sensitive topic to discuss for obvious reasons and so I am putting a disclaimer right here in the introduction promising that all views expressed here are my own and that this post will discuss religion as portrayed (or perhaps not portrayed?) in the Harry Potter series.

So, as it turns out I completely underestimated my ability to keep things concise and so have had to split this post into two parts...

Mental Images: Characters

I've got more into my reading of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone this week, and I'm starting to get really into the whole analysing of the story thing. I've been switching between my new copy and my old copy, especially since Lucia and another friend suggested that I make notes in my old book; especially as it's purely sentimental anyway, and the value of it is only when I hold it.

The first edition cover of Harry Potter and
the Philosopher's Stone by Thomas Taylor
(UK) [source]

Week 2 Roundup

The second week has been a bit quieter on the blog, but that doesn't mean things haven't been happening behind the scenes! I, personally, had a huge reading success this week...

Diagon Alley

I had originally set out to make this post not simply be a re-counting of what happens in the chapter, however it sort of got away from me and so in an effort to not have it be too long, I have decided to make my next blog post tackle the more serious issues I wanted to discuss.

And so, let's see what Hagrid and Harry have been up to...

Smeltings

It has been so long since I posted....I won't even go on about what I've been doing, but needless to say I'm feeling busy and stressed! Anyway, I went to the park yesterday, and having forgotten where I was in the book, re-read "The Letters From No One" by accident. I went on a little bit further, and have a million things I want to say - but for now, I just wanted to discuss the Smeltings Uniform.

Week 1 Roundup

The second week of our Harry Potter Challenge has begun and so I thought I would look back on the experience I've had so far. I know it hasn't been long, but I've already noticed some changes in my habits, which was part of the reason for starting this whole challenge.

The Keeper of the Keys

I am writing this blog post on the Eurostar train to Brussels, on my way to visit my lovely boyfriend for the weekend. I’m not sure if I’ve ever written anything on a train before – I usually either read or snooze. I must admit: it is much easier to focus on writing when one has no internet connection. There are absolutely no distractions (except for the scenery outside, but the majority of this journey is through a tunnel, so even that’s missing!).

Technology and a song

As a graduate of a Science and Technology University, and girlfriend of a technology geek (yes, he ordered his Apple Watch the day it was released), I naturally take an interest in the Muggle technology of the HP world. I'm also a musician - these two facts have inspired this blog post. I have read up to Chapter Three now, and anticipate doing a bit more reading when I get home from where I am currently based (a car park in Kent...)

The Letters from No One

I am just flying through this book. Oh Harry, I've missed you in my life! So glad to be back in this world. On Wednesday I spent about 2 hours sitting in the park and reading in the sun. I literally cannot remember the last time I did that. The weather today has also been amazing, but my conscience has gotten the better of me and so I've resisted the temptation to just forget about work and enjoy rediscovering JK Rowling's magical universe...barely. 

The Vanishing Glass

I don't know about you guys (if, indeed, there are any people reading this), but I get hooked on things very easily. What starts out as a new pass-time can very quickly take over the majority of my time which, if you're 4 months away from your PhD deadline, is not always a good thing. I didn't initially set out to review each chapter individually, but procrastination has a tricky way of seeping into my day and let's face it, writing about one of the greatest passions in my life is SO much more interesting than reading scientific articles about nanoparticles...

Things We Take For Granted: CUtS

Corrie here. I am by no means the first to think this through, but I did want to talk about this as it was the first time that I've ever really considered it - even after sixteen years of this being one of the most important chapters of a series in my life. We all know about it; it has become an important cultural reference in many places. I'm talking, of course, about the Cupboard Under the Stairs.

This person wrote an entire chapter of the last
book in their CUtS. (Source)

The Boy Who Lived

Monday should have been the first official day of our reading challenge, however a combination of friends/sushi/prosecco/post-half marathon exhaustion meant I didn't get a chance to start reading until yesterday. I set off for my weekly dance class with Harry Potter book in hand and spent the ~20 minute bus journey thoroughly enjoying the 1st chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

New Editions: Thoughts So Far

Corrie here, hello! I'm two chapters into Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone at the moment, and just thought I would take some time to let you know my thoughts on the new editions of the Harry Potter books. The copies that I am reading are the latest release, with cover illustrations by Jonny Duddle, kindly given to me by Lucia.

The Fateful December of 1999

As a very goal-oriented person, I'd been looking for something to motivate me to get back into reading - I remember devouring books as a child, but as an adult I find myself having less and less time for one of my great passions.

The decision to re-read the whole Harry Potter Series was very spur of the moment. I think I was browsing Mugglenet late one evening and the thought just hit me! What better way to get back into reading than by re-reading my favorite book series?

The Harry Potter Challenge

Welcome to the new blog! We are going to use this as a space to talk about our experiences of reading books together - starting now. We are two literature-loving ladies, one a hot-shot scientist studying a PhD at Imperial College London (Lucia), and the other a self-employed crafter messing around with animal fibres and handmade things.

Lucia and I have taken on a new challenge from June 2015. We aim to read all of the Harry Potter books from beginning to end over the course of the next seven months, starting with Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. We'll blog about the experience, and this is where you can come to read about it.

Lucia left, Corrie right, Minyi in the middle!
About to go on the Harry Potter Walking Tour of London.

We will naturally have a different perspective on things. While we are both huge lovers of Harry Potter, we have different relationships with the series.